Ahmad Almouhmad is a young man from Syria who has been stranded in Souda refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios for months. Ever since a volunteer in the camp said he looked like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ahmad has called himself "Leo". I'd been a volunteer in Souda for 8 weeks, and Leo and his friend "George Clooney" regularly invited me to drink tea and share their food. But I hadn't known that Leo was a writer, until I happened to see a Facebook post of his titled "Do not love a refugee". The English - produced with Google Translate - was weird, wonderful, and incomprehensible, and struck me as a remarkable piece of creativity in truly depressing circumstances. Search for "Souda Chios" on Google and you'll come across articles detailing the appalling conditions and the frustration of the camps. "Do not love a refugee" is an bewildered, fantastic prose poem giving expression to the journey of one young man and many like him who still have love in their hearts. It will be an honour to read it at the Brighton Poem-a-thon in aid of the Refugee Council and the School Bus project for refugees.

One thing I helped with in Chios was setting up a library on site in Souda. Starting with just a handful of children who quickly lost concentration, within 3 weeks there were regularly 20-30 children coming for hours every day. It was truly heartening to see that reading could provide a quiet space away from the stress of the cams for children who wanted to live with their imaginations just like any other child. That is why I am particularly pleased to support the work of the School Bus Project, who provide similar opportunities to children in several camps, as well as the Refugee Council: http://www.schoolbusproject.org/

Thank you for your support and I hope you can attend the readings in Brighton in December.